Motor-driven post-hole digger.



' UNITED "STAT PATENT car es.

HENRY iansmcon, or s'rmrnmw, mm msou.

To all whom it may concern:

I Be it known that I, HENRY BESANCON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Stephen, in the county of Marshall, State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Motor-Driven Post-Hole Digger; and I a do hereby declare the following to be a full,

' frame being broken away and removed to bring out more clearly the details of con 'clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

.The present invention relates to a power,

driven post hole digger, and has for its object to provide a device of this character which embodies novel features of construction whereby it can be readily mounted upon a truck'so as to be easily moved from place to place, and which will operate in a;

quick and economical manner to bore holes in'the ground of a suitable size and depth to receive a fence post or the like.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a post hole digger which is comparatively simpleand inexpensive in its construction, which can be easily. moved from place to place, which can be. easily controlled by a single operator, and which canbe quickly adjusted and set in proper position for boring a hole in the ground.

With these and other objects in view, the inventionconsists in certain novel combinations and arrangements of the parts as will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the novel features thereof being pointed out in the appended claims.

For a full understanding of the invention, reference is to,be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which v Figure 1 is a rear elevation of a post hole digger constructed in accordance with the invention, the engine being omitted to avoid confusion.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the post hole digger, the upper portion of the vertical struction.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of the auger and dirt deflecting shield, portions being broken away and shown in section.

'- Corresponding and like parts are referred Speeihcatlon of. Letters Patent.

Application filed July 20, 1917. Serial No. 181,777.

'MOTOB-IJ BIVEN POST-HOLE BIGGER.

Patented'Oct. 1c, 1917.

to be employed for driving the earth boring auger. An arched upri ht frame 3 is'arranged at the rear end 0 hetrugkA, being shown as mounted upon-the projecting ends of the longitudinal beams 4 which extend under the platform. A pair of sleeves 5 are ournaled in the top of the arched'frame 3 and in a cross bar 7 connecting the sides of l the arched frame, said sleeves being formed with square openings which slidably receive a square shaft 7. This shaft 7 is vertically disposed and provided at its lower.

end with an auger 8 which is adapted to be used for boring a hole of a suitable diameter.

and depth in the ground. The lower sleeve 5 is connected by bevel gearing 9 to a horizontal drive shaft 10' which is journaled within suitable bearings 11 on the upright .frame, and provided at its projecting end with a drive pulley 12. A belt 13connects the pulley 12 of the drive shaft 10 to the pulley 14 of the engine shaft, so that when the .engme is in motion the drive shaft 10 will be rotated and the sleeve 5 driven, The

vertical shaft 7 i is slidable freely up and down through the sleeves 5, but is rotatable with the lower sleeve 5, owing to its polygonal formation, so that the shaft and auger are positively driven by the shaft 10 which receives power from the engine 2. e

A collar 15 is with the shaft 7 and projectslaterally therefrom, said collar being engaged by a forked arm 16 projecting from a sliding rack 17. A vertically disposed guideway 18 receives the rack 17 and directs it in its up and down movements, the teeth of the rack being engaged by a pinion 19 on a short horizontal shaft 20 which is journaled within suitable bearings 21 and paovided at its-end with a hand wheel 22.

ith. this construction it will be obvious that by rotating the hand wheel and turning the pinion 19 the rack bar 17 can be move up and down, carrying with it the polygonal shaft 7 and auger 8. This enables the auger to be moved up and down into and out of operative position, and to be held to its work while the device is in operation.

A tubular guide casing 23 surrounds the I auger 8 and is provided at the sides thereof with a conical dirt deflecting shield 24, the dirt being discharged from the auger at the upper end of the tubular guide casing 23 and being deflected away from the opening by the shield 24 so that the loose dirt will not'fall back into the opening when it has been bored to the proper depth and the auger and shield are raised into inoperative position. site sides of the conical dirt deflecting shield 24 are brackets 25 which are formed with balls 26, saidballs being loosely engaged by sockets 27 at the lower ends of supporting rods 28: These rods 28 are ver tically disposed, being slidably received Within guide keepers 29 projecting from the sides of the arched frame 3, and terminat ing at their upper ends in racks 30 which slide through guide openings 31 in. the cross bar 6 of the upright frame These rack bars 30 are engaged by pinions 32 on a horizontal shaft 33 which extends across the upright frame 3, being journaled at the sides thereof, and is provided at one of its ends with a hand wheel 34. With this con struction it willbe obvious that by manipulating the hand Wheel 34 to rotate the shaft 33 and pinions 32, the supporting rods 28 and dirt defleriing shield 24 can be moved 'up and down, thereby enabling the latter to be readily raised and lowered into andout of operative position.

When the digger is not in operation the auger 8 and dirt deflecting shield 24 are raised upwardly above the surface of the ground so that they'will not interfere in any manner with the movements of the truck. The truck can then be moved from place to place without difficulty, and when the device is properly positioned at the point where it is desired to dig a. post hole, the dirt deflecting shield 24 and auger 8 are lowered into engagement with the ground and the motor started for the purpose of drivingthe augen' By suitably manipulating the hand wheel 22 the auger can be for cibly held to its Work, and a hole drilled to the desired depth in the ground. The earth which is loosened'by the auger will be elevated to the upper end of the tubular guide casing 23 and be discharged laterally therefrom, falling upon the conical shield 24 which will deflect it to one side and deposit it upon the surface of the ground at a dis tance from the opening which has just been bored.- Thiswill prevent the loose earth Projecting laterally from oppofrom'falling back into the. opening when the auger and dirt deflecting shield are end of the shaft, means for driving the shaft, a collar rigid with the shaft, a rack bar provided with a forked arm straddling the collar, a pinion meshing with the rack bar, means for rotating the pinion to. raise and lower the rack bar which carries with it the auger shaft, a dirt deflecting shield surroundin the auger for receivmg the loose dirt ,ischarged therefrom and deflecting 'it'away from the openin ,..and means for raising and lowering .the irt deflecting shield i 21A post hole digger including an up right frame, a vertical auger shaft mounted upon the frame to have both a rotary and a sliding movement, an auger at'the lower end of the shaft, means for driving the shaft, means for raising and lowering the shaft, a tubular guide casing surrounding the auger and formed with a conical dirt deflecting shield for deflecting'loose dirt discharged through the upper end of the guidecasing away from the opening, side brackets projectingfrom the d1rt deflectin shield. upright supporting bars connecte to the bracket and provided with racks, a transverse shaft journaled upon the upright frame and provided with pinions meshing with the racks, and means for rotating the shaft and pinions to raise and lower the earth deflectlng shield. 1

3. A post hole digger including an upright frame, a vertical auger shaft mounted upon the frame tohave both a rotary and a sliding movement, an auger at the lower end of the shaft, means for driving the shaft, means for raising and lowering the shaft and holding the auger to its work,

a tubular guide casing surrounding the auger and provided at its sides with a conical dirt deflecting shield arranged to deflect the loose dirt discharged from the upper end of the tubular casing away from the opening, side brackets 1projecting laterally from the deflecting shie d, upright supporting rods having ball and socket connections at their lower ends with the side brackets and provided with racks, guide members.

; right frame, a pair of superposed sleeves journaled upon the frame and formed with polygonal openings, a polygonal shaft slidable through the sleeves and rotatable therewith, a horizontal drive shaft journaled 10 upon the frame, gearing between the drive shaft and one of the sleeves, a collar projecting from the auger shaft, a vertically slidable rack bar arranged at one side of the shaft, a forked arm projecting from the 7 rack bar and straddling the collar or the shaft, a pinion meshing with the teeth of the rack bar, means for rotating the pinidn to raise and lower the auger shaft, an auger at the lower end of the shaft, and a dirt 0 deflecting shield surroulnling the auger for deflecting the loose dirt dischargml therefrom away from the opel'iing.

in A post hole digger including an upright frame, a vertically disposed auger shaft mounted upon the frame to have a rotary and a sliding movement, an anger at the lower end of the shaft, means for driving the shaft, a collar rojeotin from the shaft, a vertically sli able me her ar' ranged at one side of the auger shaft and provided with a. forked arm straddling the collar, a pinion meshing with the teeth of the rack bar, means for rotatin the pinion to raise and lower the auger sha a tubular guide casing surrounding ,the auger and provided with a conical dirt deflecting shield for deflecting the loose dirt discharged from the upper end of the tubular casing away from the opening, side brackets projecting from the dirt deflecting shield, upright supporting rods connected at their lower ends to the side hrackets and provided with racks, a transverse shaft journaled upon the upright frame and provided with pinions meshing with the racks, and means for rotating the shaft to raise and lower lhe dirt deflecting shield.

In testimony whereof I have Signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY BESANCON. lVitnesses:

I. A. MCCLERNAN, E0 PETERSON. 

